An ink container typically includes a container body and a container cap. The cap is usually ultrasonically welded, glued or heat staked to the body after the container has been filled with ink during initial manufacturing. Once the ink has been depleted from the container, the container can be reused by refilling it with ink. Refilling ink cartridges with ink is a two step process. First, access must be provided such as by breaking open and removing the cap from the cartridge. Then, the reservoir must be refilled. To assist in refilling the ink container, the user usually drills holes through the cap to provide access into the interior of the container so that ink can be added. At times the ink container cap may be fabricated of a rigid plastic material that is difficult to penetrate using a hand-held drill bit which is typically supplied with ink refill kits. Thus, drilling holes into the cap can be difficult for the user, especially for a color ink container where three holes are required.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way to easily remove the cap from an ink supply container to enable the addition of more ink, thereby extending the useful life of the container. Thus, there is a need for an ink container opener that allows the consumer or user to remove the container cap without drilling holes into the cap.
One drawback of prior ink cartridge openers is the lack of a firm grip for the cartridge during a somewhat delicate procedure of separating ink top and bottom portions of the cartridge. Furthermore, another drawback of some of the openers is they require two or more pieces. While these multi-piece openers have been effective apparatus for opening cartridges, there is a need for an improved one-piece ink cartridge opener having enhanced gripping and stability features.
Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a one-piece cap removal tool which can be used with more than one type of ink container.